Balanced Batavia handles St. Charles North
Batavia's girls basketball team never trailed in its Upstate Eight Conference River opener against St. Charles North on Tuesday, and the Bulldogs had an answer for every run the North Stars made.
Nobody scored more than 13 points for Batavia, who used a balanced attack and solid defense for a 55-43 victory.
"Everyone has a lot of strong points," Batvia sophomore guard Erin Golden said. "We executed all our offensive plays real nicely and our press helped get the ball and put a lot of pressure on them. We didn't stress out (in the fourth quarter) and put on even more pressure and got better shots."
When St. Charles North trimmed a 15-point deficit to three early in the fourth quarter, Ava Sergio grabbed an offensive rebound and scored.
St. Charles North (3-3, 0-1) again closed to 37-34 on Anna Tate's 2 free throws, and again Sergio gave Batavia breathing room with a jumper.
Hailey Orman connected on her fourth 3-pointer and Golden scored on a drive, capping a 7-0 Batavia run midway through the fourth quarter for a 44-34 lead.
The North Stars, who made just 3 of 12 free throws in the first half and 14 of 28 in the game, never threatened again.
"Solid free throw shooters," North Stars coach Mike Tomczak said of his normally accurate players at the line. "But credit Batavia. They came out with intensity. They are much improved."
Batavia (4-3, 1-0) jumped to leads of 11-6 after one quarter and 27-16 at halftime. Allison Newberry's jumper opened the scoring, Anna Davern briefly tied the game for the North Stars, and then Newberry assisted Geddy Rerko for a basket to put Batavia ahead to stay.
The North Stars turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and made just 5 of 16 field goals.
"We looked timid and selfish in the first half. Second half we were more successful when the ball started moving," Tomczak said.
"This was a nice introduction to conference play for us. We have some new faces here that aren't used to the intensity and speed and physicality of conference play. And this is a tough gym to play in."
Batavia took its biggest lead at 31-16 in the third quarter. Rerko picked up her third foul moments later and sat the rest of the quarter, and an 11-2 run for the North Stars to close the quarter drew them within 33-27.
Orman drilled three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 12 points, as did Sergio. Golden led Batavia with 13 points while hustling for 12 rebounds and 2 steals.
Newberry added 7 points and spent her night defensively guarding Davern. The North Stars' leading scorer finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
"She's just so athletic and fast she can guard almost anybody," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "We got off to a nice start and kept the momentum on our side the whole way,"
Emma Helsel added 10 points for the North Stars, who will try to bounce back Friday against St. Charles East.